Stop motion for knitting machines



1933- w. L. SMITH, JR., ET AL ,9 ,707

STOP MOTION FOR KNITTING MACHINES Original Filed Feb. 21, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l w i FT l d //7 my 5; M //0 w o #6 I In #6 464 //4 #5: 47

gwuanioz ZWINmmLSmiI/LJI: RaberiflLawaon as, y

Aug. 8, 1933. w. SMITH, JR., ET AL 1,921,707

STOP MOTION FOR KNITTING MACHINES Original Filed Feb. 21, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 William LSmii/z Jr:

gwuanl ozd VRobemHllawdon @wg z 15 Referring to the yaccompanying drawings ing against the plate 65 Iactsas'a latch ,tdhold 79 parts, I i 1 just described the belt shifter-may be holding Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a belt 7 the beltuponzany one of the pulleys45, 46 or 2 shifter and stop motion mechanism. 6 h 47, the pulley. upon which the belt; is positioned V Figure 2, a plan view of the stop motion, being determined by means later tobe described, Figure 3, an enlarged detail in front elevation The lower bracket 53 is provided with a hollow showing the yarn engaging detecton and post or'tubular extension 66in whichjis re-v Figure 4 is a view similar toFigure 3'butin ceived an expansion spring v 6'! surrounding a side elevation with parts shownin section. pin 68 which is attached to andforms partof '53. The two brackets 49 and 53 under some means of an adjusting screw '76 carried bythe e -M1933 v g 1,921,707

4 [UNITED PATIENT OFFICE n 1 .192L76T v V s'ror MOTION roa KNITTING MACHINES William L. Smith; 'Jr., and RobertH. Lawson, v i Pawtucket, It. I.; said Smithassignor to May Hosiery Mills, Nashville; Tenn a Corporation of'i'l'ennessee V Original application Fe ruary 21; 1930, Serial No. l

430,436. Divided "and this application March 11, 1931. Serial No. 521,840 r k 3 Claims." (Cl. 66-165) 1 This invention relates to stop motion and to then terminates in a horizontally extending arm belt shifting'mechanism for knitting machines havingan' end projecting through theina- 1 and is a division of our copending application chine frame. A spring 61 is attached atone Serial No. 430,436 filed February 21st, 1930, for end to a pin 62 securedflin the bracket 49 and v 5 knitting machines. has its, other end secured to a pin 63 fixed to An object of the invention is to provide new the lever 58. The spring tends to maintain the and improved mechanism for this purpose which lever 58 in a position in 'which the pin 5'1 will will be operated upon the breaking of a needle be held in the upper portion. of the triangular latch 'or by the accumulation of yarn'adjacent opening 56. The spring ,61 alsoserves to; hold 0 the latches produced by any other cause. the lever 58 in aposition in which a shoulder 65 A further object is to. provide means operated 64 provided by a-jnotch, in the upper edge of by' pattern controlled mechanism on the ma--- the lever will seat against the edge of a" plate chine for changing the speed of a knitting ma- 65,- whichplate; is carried by the inner portion chine or for stopping it. of the lower bracket 53. -The shoulder 64 seatwhich aremade a part hereof and on which the bracket;-49 in a fixed relation ;.with the similar reference characters indicate similar bracket 53., When the parts are-in the position As shown in Figure 1, a'main shaft 44- has the bracket 49. The spring6'1 bears'at one end mounted thereon a fast pulley 45, a slow pulley against the extension 66-and at its other end 46 and a loose pulley 47, these pulleys being upona'face .69 of the bracket 49. When the driven by means of .a belt, not shown and the shoulder 64 isreleasedfrom engagement with shaft 44' being connected by any well known a plate 65 the spring67 serves to move, the gearing connection, not shown, with the driven bracket 49 with respect to the bracket53 and parts of the knitting machine. A belt shifter this movement shifts the belt-fromvthe fast pul-' :48 having two arms which extend to engage ley 45 to the slow pulley 46 or to the loose p'ulopposite sides of the belt, not shown, is proley 4'7. Under certain circumstances it may 3 vided, the arms ofthe shifter serving to move shift belt from the slow pulley 46 to thGlOQSB the belt from any one of the pulleys to another. pulley 47. At 43 is shown a portion of a cam The belt shifter is mounted upon a bracket 49 shaft on the knitting machine to which isfsewhich bracket is slidably mounted upon a shaft cureda cam drum 76 having a cam 71 thereon or rod 50. The bracket 49 is moved by means which cam is maintainedin constant engagew of a manually or automatically operated lever ment with a'pin 72 depending from andcarried 5l'which lever is pivoted at 52- to another brackby the free end of an arm 73. The arm -73 is I et 53. The bracket 49 slides upon the bracket pivoted at .74 to a bracket 75 secured to the 53 having a rib 54 which engages a groove 55 machineframeiFig. 2) the pin 72 is maintained provided inthe upper face of the lower bracket in adjustable engagement with the cam 71 by circumstances are slidable together as a unit bracket53. The'head of the adjustingscrew is but at other times one may move independently held inconstant yielding engagement with the of the other. Intermediate its ends the lever arm '73 by means of h a spring 7'7. This spring 51' has a triangular shaped :opening 56' into is connected at one end to a pin "78 on the mawhich extends P Carried y and laterally chine frame and atmthe otherendto a pin '79 V projecting from one side of a lever 58. The attached to the bracket 53. As may be seen lever 58 is pivoted at 59 to the bracket 49. The the spring thus normally "holds the bracket 53 lever 58 consists of a horizontal portion extendin a position adjacent tothe machine frame F ing from the pivot 59 to a point near the pin as shown in Figure 1. The bracket-49 as de- 57 and from there extends at a right angle and scribed is; slidably mounted on the bracket 53 no detector is carried by and forms part of a plate r 90 has an overhanging extension 97 which is ;serving to guide the rod 116 '83 which plate is adjustably fastened to aplate 84.by means of screws 87 and 88 which pass through elongated slots and "86 andengage with the plate 84. The mit the detector'plate 83 to be adjusted to any desired vertical position to'position thedetector point 82 at the proper position with respect to the dial needles. Plate 84 is pivoted at 89 to a block 90 which block is fastened to a sleeve or plunger 91 by means of screws 92. The sleeve 91 is slidably positioned in a longitudinal opening. in a bracket 93 which bracket is fastened to the dial cap of the machine.

Within the plunger 91 is a recess 94 in which 7 is positioned a coil spring 95, the upper end of which spring engages shoulders 96 and the lower end" seats upon the upper face of the dial cap. The spring tends tomove the plunger 91 and the associated elements including the detector 82Ito an elevated position. Y The block notched at 98. 'jA lever 100 has an arm 99 which seats within'the notch 98, the notch serving to retain the lever in{ a set position until released. The -pIat'e84 has a bayonet slot 101 in which isreceived apin 102, the pin being secured in the bracket 93, the lever arm 99 is secured to a hub 103 attached to a sleeve 104 by means of a set -screw 105. The sleeve 104 is pivotally mounted upon a pm 106 which stands up from and is carried by "the circular base of the machine. The sleeve has at its lower end a second lever arm 10'? which" is secured by means of a set-screw 105. The free end of the lever arm 107' has slidable therethrough a rod 108; The rod 108 has collars 1 09 and 110 thereon between which the end of the arm 107 is positioned. A .coiledexpansion spring'l'll surrounds the rod 108 between the rod 110 and the lever arm 107 and tends to move the arm to' the left (Fig.2). and into engagement with collar 109. At its. other end the rod 108 is'pivoted at 112 to one arnr of a lever 113 pivoteda't 114 to the machineframe. The other arm of'the lever is providedwith a key-hole slot 115, and passing through this slot is a vertically mov ble rod 116having a head 117 on its upper end." The rod is reduced at ll8ito provide a shoulder119 which nor-.

mally seats uponthe lever 113 when positioned in the narrow portion of the key-hole slot as shown in elevated position in Figure 1'. The

lower end of the rod 116 is bent substantially at right. angles at 102, the bent end being adapted to engage'the end 60 of the lever-58. A block 121 having a plate 122 secured thereon is fastened to the machine frame, the plate. in its vertical movements and also to prevent the right-angled end 120 from turning. j

When the mechanism just described functions. as a stop motionthedetector 82 is actuslots 85 and 86 per-.-

swing the detector from the position shown in Figure 3; to the right, rocking the plate 84 on its pivot and moving the horizontal portion of the bayonet. slot away from the pin 102, whereupon the spring 95 moves the plunger Sloarrying up with it the block 90' until it strikes the upper portion ofthe bracket 93 over hanging-the block 90. The extension 97 of the block 90 moves up with it and this movement frees the lever arm 99 from engagement with the notch 98. As soon as the arm 99 is released from the notch 98 the coil spring 111 expands,

and moves the lever arm 107 to the" left until it forcibly engages the collar 109" and moves the rod 108 toward the left. This swings thelever 113 upon its pivotand.

portion of the key-hole slot lid-from under the shoulder 119 and permits the rod-116 to fall through the enlarged portion of the key-hole slot which portion is of course greater than the diameter of the rod' 116. As the rod 116 drops down, the bent-over end 120' strikes the end 60 of the lever 58 which is projecting through the frame and rocks this lever upon Withdraws'the narrow 7 its pivot 59"re1easing the shoulder 64 from engagement Withthe plate 65. As soon'as the shoulder 64 is released the spring 67 forces the bracket 49 to the right, thisbracket carrying with it. the belt shifter 48, moving the belt to the loose pulley and the machine is stopped. The cam 71 carried by the drum or disk 70 is adapted to engage the pin '72 at desired times and to force the same to the right, Figure 1, into contact with the s'crew'76. This movement carriesthe lower bracket 53 to the right. The movement'of the lower bracket 53 is transmitted to the upper bracketv 49 and the belt shifter 48 either to stop the machine or to another cam may be carried by the cam disk or drum 70 to movethe lever 73 to such an extent as to shift the belt from the fast pulley to the loose pulley and stop the machine. From the description 'just given it will be seen that although the mechanism shown is primarily'lntended to serve as a stop motion, in its broader aspects it serves as a belt shifting mechanism whereby the machine may be manually stopped at any time by moving the belt from the fast or the slowpulley to the lose. pulley. Furthermore the speed of themachine may be ,reduced by manually moving the belt from the fast to the slow. pulley.

Itwill be obvious to those skilled in the art that v'ariouschanges mayv be made in our device without departing from. the spirit of the selves to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as in- V dicated by the appendedclaims.

Having thus fully described our said inven 'as set forth.

seat in any one of the plurality of seats provided by the mentioned opening in the lever, movement of the lever in one direction camming the pin and member to sucha positionas to shift the belt from one pulley to another; the pin when so shifted seating in another seat pro vided by the opening in the lever, substantially 2. In a knitting machine, thecombination with a detector movable by engagement with defects in the knitted'fabric of a stop motion comprising a belt shifter mounted on a bracket; a'

latch locking the bracket in position to hold the belt on the driving pulley, means biased to shift the bracket to move the belt to a loose pulley, a lever for releasing the latch, to permit the belt shifter to move the belt to the loose pulley, said bracket being mounted upon a second bracket, and means controlled automatically I by the machinefor moving sai'dsecond bracket to shift the .first bracket together with the belt shifter to move the belt from a fastto' a slow pulley, substantially as set forth.

3. In a knitting machine the combination with a detector, of a belt shifter for moving the drivingbelt from a fast to a looseor to a slow pulley said belt shifter comprising a bracket having a belt shifter mounted thereon, resilient means for moving the bracket to move the belt to a1 loose pulley, a second bracket, a latch pivotally mounted on the first bracket and engage'able with the second bracket to hold the belt on the fast pulley, a lever pivotally attached to said second bracketand having a socket engageable.

by a pin mounted in said latch, said socket having cam surfaces for operating release it when the lever is moved, movement ofithe lever serving to cam the locking means to unlocking position, and means operated automatically by mechanism on the knitting machine'for moving theseoond bracket, said second bracket serving. to move the first bracket to shift the belt from the fast to the slow speed pulley, substantially asfsetforth.

WILLIAM LQSMITH, 'JR. ROBERT LAWSON.

the latch to l 

